Club officials met the 27-year-old's representatives on Sunday night, but that the deal on the table did not come close to meeting what his AGENT expects from the deal.
All along it seems as though Ba has been "encouraged" to move on because backroom boys can make a "nice little earner" out of the deal.
Ba's football future doesn't even seem to come into it ... it's "others" trying to get a cut.
The Ba "camp" has indicated that the Senegal international does not now expect to be playing his football at Stamford Bridge next month.
Allegedly Chelsea were willing to pay him (his asking price) £85,000 per week ... so the "problem" is elsewhere ... and probably nothing to do with Ba.
The Blues are among a series of clubs to have been linked with the former West Ham frontman, who scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season at Arsenal on Saturday, with the £7million release-clause in his contract due to become active once again on Tuesday.
However as yet, the Magpies insist they are yet to receive a bid that would trigger that clause.
The deal Ba signed when he joined Newcastle during the summer of 2011 was intensely complicated as a result of the medical condition of his knee, and they have spent recent months attempting to renegotiate it.
However, the two sides have been unable to reach agreement and with the player's network of representatives clearly active behind the scenes, the waters are becoming increasingly muddied by the day.
What is clear is that any deal would cost significantly more than £7.5million when signing on and agent fees are taken into consideration.